Faithful
by vintagetypewriter
Summary: Peter/OC
1. Leaving Home?

Faithful

A Chronicles of Narnia Adaptation

Chapter One

The black of night was shattered along with the windows of Linore Ardice James' house as the first bomb of the night struck its target. She sat straight up in her violently shaking bed and looked around, as if searching for the source of the disruption; she should have been used to the bombings by now, but her nerves were on edge as much as the last bombing, and the one before that, and the many before that one. Keeping her head, she slipped out of bed then slipped out of her room, careful to avoid the broken glass adorning the floor. That would be her second window replacement in the last three months. The sirens were blaring, an inescapable exclamation of the danger Finchley was currently in; a sign to get to safety.

"Mom!" Linore called over the racket, barging into her mother's room. She found her just as she'd left her, lying in bed, blankets pulled up to her chest. Her lips moved, but Linore couldn't hear the words. Alice James was far too weak to shout, and the sirens overpowered her with ease. She hastily helped her mother out of the bed and held her arm steady as they made their way through the hallway and down the stairs. Linore urged her on as they reached the backyard and flinched at the chaos entertaining the sky. Planes were flying so low, she felt as if she could reach up and touch them, and explosions were erupting from all directions. She rushed her mother more quickly than the doctor would permit her to go, but her only concern rested on one place: the Pevensies' bomb shelter.

Tears of relief sprung to her eyes as they crossed the threshold of the aforementioned neighbors' yard and she took sight of the glowing interior through the open and waiting door. As her mother grew fainter and fainter, she found more weight placed on her and felt as if she was dragging her across the lawn. She fought the urge to collapse as she reached the entrance to the shelter. Mrs. Pevensie was waiting with ready arms, intercepting her mother and helping her into the safety of the shelter. Linore stood in the doorway and was practically tackled by Peter Pevensie as he grabbed her from behind and began checking her over for injuries frantically.

"Are you alright?" He exclaimed, then checking to be sure that Alice James was also present and unharmed. Linore only nodded after surveying all of the Pevensie children herself. No missing people, no missing limbs.

"Wait, Dad!" Edmund shouted, before turning on his heel and dashing back into to the house.

"Ed!" A collective shout erupted, and Linore, Peter, and Mrs. Pevensie started after him.

"I got him!" Peter shouted urgently, waving them back to the shelter. Mrs. Pevensie reluctantly returned to the shelter, but Linore merely looked back at the shelter indecisively before continuing after the boys. She had just made it into the house as a bomb struck the side of the home, the blast knocking her off her feet.

She screamed Peter and Ed's names, fearing the upstairs to have had a worse impact. She couldn't hear her own shouts. She couldn't hear the bombs, the sirens, or the planes. The blast had temporarily rendered her deaf and she prayed at that moment that the disability would be temporary. She pulled herself off of the floor and stumbled up the stairs, meeting a running Peter and Edmund about halfway up. She could see Peter mouth her name, and Edmund grabbed her arm as they rushed past her, pulling her back down the steps, out the door, and across the yard with them. Peter shoved Edmund into the shelter and Linore went with him, landing on the floor as Edmund landed on a cot. The elder Pevensie slammed the shelter door shut and turned to Edmund in fury. He said words that Linore was fleetingly glad she couldn't hear. She was starting to hear now, but not the sounds going on around her; merely low, garbled and warped noises as her ears tried desperately to repair themselves.

Peter stopped his lecturing and turned to Linore, making a comment and waiting expectantly. She remained on the floor, giving him a blank and slightly dazed look. He asked her what was wrong, which she easily read from his lips.

"I…I can't hear you." She responded, hoping that she wasn't yelling.

A terrified look struck Peter's face as the words left her mouth, and she was instantly crowded by the other children, giving her words of comfort and asking her questions, none of which she could make out. Mrs. Pevensie got them to disperse and kneeled in front of her. Linore couldn't read what she was saying either, but she knew Mrs. Pevensie well enough that she was probably telling her to get some sleep to see if her hearing would come back gradually. Linore simply nodded, and then Peter was helping her up and getting her settled into her cot.

Her head felt as if it had been split open with an ax, and she realized how comfortable of a place sleep would be at that moment. Her eyes fluttered shut and she slept soundly without any noise to penetrate her slumber.

"Linore?" An unsure and faraway voice sounded, pulling Linore from her deep, exhausted rest. In the first moment she was awake, she laid there unmoving with her eyes closed, no recollection of the bombing, or the deafness. Then the magnitude of her enduring headache was felt and she let out a low, throaty groan. At the sound of her own groan, a cry erupted from her throat. Her hearing was back!

"You can hear me?" Lucy, the mysterious voice, exclaimed, positively beaming. Linore had never heard anything more beautiful than Lucy's small, sweet voice at that moment. Her migraine was unbearable, but that was minor compared to the condition she could have been in this morning. Linore glanced at her surroundings. Lucy was the only other occupant of the shelter besides herself. The door was standing open and sunlight was streaming through the portal it created.

"Lucy, Mom told you to let her rest, and if Peter finds out you woke her up, he won't be ha-" Susan began as she appeared in the doorway. Linore interrupted her.

"It's alright." She reassured her, attempting to sit up slowly.

"Linore! You can hear!" She exclaimed in a joy that was uncharacteristic of Susan Pevensie. She rushed forward and hugged Linore, who got steadily to her feet.

"Where's my mom?" She questioned weakly.

"Resting in her bedroom. It didn't suffer any damage, unlike yours." Susan reported and Linore nodded gratefully. "Peter and Ed are helping our mother assess the damages." She added, and she and Lucy assisted Linore out of the tiny shelter, giving her the details of the long perils of the night.

Peter and Edmund experienced the same enthusiasm as Lucy and Susan when learning of Linore's healthy condition and returned hearing. Mrs. Pevensie was overjoyed as well, but became solemn once the excitement of the news wore off. Linore dismissed it as a Pevensie family issue and then dismissed herself from their presence, eager to check on her Mother.

"Mom?" She asked softly, easing the bedroom door open. She made a note to lie back down for a few more hours the first chance she got; her head was spinning.

"Come in, sweetheart." The reply came and she took in her mother's weak but smiling facial expression.

"You can hear me?" She wished to know, and Linore nodded assuredly, coming to sit next to her on the bedside. "Are you alright?" She then proceeded, before erupting into a coughing fit.

"What about you?" Linore asked, retrieving a handkerchief from the bedside stand and handing it to her mother to cough into. "Did you sleep at all last night?" She pried, noticing the bloody spots on the handkerchief as her mother pulled it away from her mouth and attempted to fold it over quickly.

"Like a baby." She insisted with that sweet smile that Linore was sure had won her father over at one time. "Linore, honey, come here." She then commanded, shifting so that Linore could scoot farther into the bed with her. "I want to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Linore whispered, trying to ignore the soft rattling of her mother's chest as she breathed.

"It's getting too dangerous here…" She began, as if testing the right way to tell her. "And I want you to go on a trip for a little while. Just to get away. Like a vacation." She explained to Linore as if she were still the five year-old wishing to know where babies came from.

"A vacation…what do you mean?" Linore demanded to know, eyebrows furrowed. Alice James sighed softly.

"Parents have begun sending their children away. To stay in other people's houses until the war is over." She elaborated gently.

"But…that's not what you're doing to me, right?" Linore begged to know, her voice wavering slightly.

"Helen and I have arranged for all of you children to stay together." Mrs. James explained and Linore gasped, her fears confirmed. "You'll be with Peter, and-" She attempted to console her daughter.

"I won't go!" She exclaimed, climbing out of the bed and taking on a defensive posture. "I won't leave you!"

"Linore, honey, please, you have to understand. This is no place for children! It won't be for forever. Just until the war is over." Her mother attempted again.

"And that could be months…years even!" Linore sobbed. "I can't leave you here alone, without me _and _without Dad! You're sick!" She cried desperately.

"I won't be alone. I'll be moving in with Helen until the arrangement is over. Everyone will be safer this way, Linore!" She argued, bubbling into another grotesque coughing fit. Linore fled from the room and in turn, the house.

She sat in the tree outside her house for two hours before someone found her.

"Linore?" An all-too familiar voice called from below.

"How'd you know I was here?" She replied weakly and she heard him begin to climb. Within moments he appeared on a branch across from her.

"Lucky guess." He replied softly. "Your mother's been worried sick about you." He informed her. "She said if anyone could find you, it'd be me." He added with a gentle chuckle. Linore's face didn't even twitch with a smile.

"I can't leave her, Peter." She asked quietly, resting her chin on her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. She assumed he would know, as his mother had involved him in everything since Mr. Pevensie left for war.

"I don't want to go either, Nora." He explained, using the nickname he'd made up for her one rainy day at the age of seven. "But we have to."

"Why?" Linore demanded, looking at him coldly. "You have the pretense of protecting your brother and sisters. I don't have that, Peter. She is _all_ that I have left." She explained, her lip quivering no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

"No." Peter retorted, looking her square in the eye. "You have me. And I need you to help me do this, Linore." He pleaded. "You and I act like we're in charge and we've got it together all the time, but…We've always had each other to rely on. The way you feel about leaving her is the way I feel about leaving you. Whatever happened to the Linore who wanted to tag along with me everywhere?" He finished, a tiny smirk pulling at his lips.

Linore broke eye contact with him and gazed down at the chaos that once used to be a beautiful neighborhood in a quiet town. "She grew up."


	2. Let the Adventure Begin

Chapter Two: Let the Adventure Begin

Linore Ardice James had practically been a Pevensie from infancy. Her parents, Theodore and Alice James were true-born Americans, as was Linore, but the three of them had traveled to Britain before Linore was even walking.

She retained the tongue of her parents, which made her the butt of many jokes throughout primary school, despite the multitude of girls who were jealous of whatever glamour seemed to go along with being American that Linore could never see in herself.

The American reputation was something that followed her throughout the years. By the time she reached secondary school, boys teased her about American girls being "easy," along with a multitude of other scandalous insults. That was where Peter came into the picture. He knew the truth. He'd lived next door to Linore practically his whole life, and had spent almost every waking moment with her. They were best friends; something that Linore always needed and leaned heavily upon. Something she valued.

Mr James and Mr. Pevensie were drafted within a month of each other. Mr. Pevensie had been the one to write Alice and Linore that Theodore had been killed in action a mere four months after his departure. Linore didn't like to talk about her father much. Not because she didn't care, but because she was so acutely aware of her mother's condition that she found herself focusing all of her energy on the one parent she did have. She couldn't afford to fall apart.

That was why, as Linore stood in the train station with the Pevensies, she felt as if she was leaving behind the very last thing that kept her going. Her mother had been far too sick to come to the station and see her off, so Linore had said her tearful goodbyes at home, early that morning.

"You'll take care of your siblings, won't you?" Mrs. Pevensie asked Peter. Peter had that look on his face that Linore had become all too familiar with since Mr. Pevensie had left to fight in the war. The look that told her he was mustering up courage and confidence out of pure necessity.

"You too, Linore. Keep his head on straight." Mrs. Pevensie addressed Linore, nodding toward Peter.

"I always do." Linore replied, trying and failing to lighten the mood.

"You listen to your brother." She then told Edmund, who resisted when she attempted to embrace him. Edmund was going through a particularly difficult phase, Linore had decided, and she was eager for him to grow out of it. She often had more patience with him than his siblings, but even she was guilty of losing her composure at his expense from time to time. Mrs. Pevensie exchanged tearful words with Lucy and Susan and before Linore knew it, she was boarding the train that would take her away from everything she knew. Save, of course, for the four other children she loved most dearly in this world.

"Edmund, let someone else up front. You don't know where you're going." Susan chastised her brother as they weaved through the crowded aisle of the train.

"I'm not simple, Susan, the tickets say compartment sixteen." He sneered in reply. Linore managed to get up next to him and watched as he looked at the numbers to his left in frustration.

"Even numbers are on the right." She offered gently, trying to discreetly help him out for the sake of his pride.

"Right. Obviously." He muttered and Linore fought the urge to smirk at his stubbornness.

"Here we are." He announced, stopping at the correct compartment and opening the door. Linore followed him in, glancing back to make sure his siblings were filing in behind her. The compartment was small, only meant to seat about six people. Linore assumed this to mean that they'd have it to themselves and felt relieved for it. Stress levels were high already without having to worry about an awkward train ride.

"Here, give me your bag." She commanded Edmund gently, rising to her tiptoes and propping open the door to the overhead compartment. Edmund obliged before plopping down moodily. He couldn't have reached it anyway, so he didn't put up a fight and Linore was thankful for it.

She began to lift the bag up, rising back to her tiptoes, but she stopped when she felt a hand on her back and another hand reached around her to take the bag from her hands.

"Don't be silly, I'll get that." Peter insisted politely. "Have a seat, Nora."

"Thanks." She breathed, straightening out her plum-colored cardigan and taking the seat between Edmund and the window. Susan handed Peter she and Lucy's bags and sat on Edmund's other side. Peter closed the overhead cupboard and sat across from Linore, while Lucy spread out on the other two seats, resting her head on Peter's lap. She looked homesick already.

"I'm sure it'll be great." Susan stated as the train began to move.

"It'll be better than great. It'll be an adventure." Linore agreed, winking at Lucy. Linore hoped that she wasn't lying.

"How adventurous." Edmund droned as the five kids stood alone on the empty train platform. Peter elbowed him in the ribs and sent him a warning glare for good measure.

"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled." Susan suggested.

"It's possible." Linore agreed calmly. There had been a lot of kids on the train being relocated. They heard an automobile approaching and rushed down the stairs to meet it, but it passed them by with no more acknowledgment than a honk. Linore exhaled evenly and exchanged glances with Peter. They were both getting nervous, but were determined not to show it because they were the oldest. If they showed they were nervous, it would cue the rest of the kids to panic, even Susan. Linore silently prayed that they were in the right place. Not a minute later, their ears perked at the click-clacking that approached from down the road. Rescue seemed to come in the form of horse-and buggy.

"Mrs. Macready?" Peter said incredulously to the woman who wore a practiced scowl.

"Is this all of you?" She asked and the kids all glanced at each other, as if they were just now counting heads to make sure.

"Yes ma'am." Peter replied, and the woman gave a half shrug.

"Small favors," She said with nonchalance. "Come on then!"

Peter helped everyone into the buggy and then pulled himself up, quietly taking a seat. Lucy was attempting to look polite, despite the obvious distaste she felt for the situation. The others wore similar expressions.

"See?" Linore whispered to Lucy, just loud enough for the others to overhear. "Horses! Just like in an adventure story."

The corners of Lucy's mouth pulled upward.


End file.
